Hazard the difference as Chelsea edge Man United in Cup final

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Chelsea, FA Cup,

LONDON: Eden Hazard’s first-half penalty proved decisive as Chelsea salvaged their season by beating Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup final in what is widely expected to be manager Antonio Conte’s swansong on Saturday.

The Belgian’s searing pace earned the spot-kick in the 21st minute after forcing Phil Jones into a desperate lunging tackle and he coolly tucked it away for what proved to be the winner.

Jose Mourinho’s United were dismal in a scrappy first half and although they improved significantly after the break they were denied a record-equalling 13th FA Cup triumph.

Chelsea, whose Premier League title defence fizzled out into a fifth-placed finish, survived several scares but defended superbly as Conte celebrated his first domestic cup honour as a manager having seen his side beaten by Arsenal a year ago.

It was only Mourinho’s third defeat in 15 Cup finals as a manager and his first in an English showpiece final.

In a poignant end to the afternoon, Chelsea captain Gary Cahill was presented with the cup by Jackie Wilkins — wife of former Chelsea and United great Ray Wilkins who died last month.

“This was to save our season, we haven’t had a magnificent season by any stretch. We are used to winning, I’m not saying that in an arrogant way,” said Cahill, whose assured display would have impressed England manager Gareth Southgate.

“We had a lot of defending to do, they pushed us until the very end. We are buzzing. This a dream come true because it is my first trophy win as captain of the club.”

The sunshine that illuminated the day’s other big occasion down the road at Windsor helped provide a carnival-like atmosphere as red and blue clad fans streamed into Wembley.

Pre-match pyrotechnics aside, however, the opening stages of the showpiece hardly offered up party football with a predictably cagey approach.

Hazard, also rumoured to be on his way out of Stamford Bridge, stood out from the crowd, though, and the Belgian served notice of his threat in the eighth minute when he jinked past Jones and fired in a shot that David de Gea saved with his feet.

ENGLAND PORTENT

In a portent of what might await England when they face Belgium in the World Cup next month, Hazard’s pace proved calamitous for United in the 21st minute.

Again Jones was cruelly exposed as Hazard latched on to Cesc Fabregas’s first-time pass and accelerated into the area where the lumbering defender felled him with a desperate lunge.

Michael Oliver pointed to the spot and booked Jones, although Chelsea manager Conte screamed for a red card, and side-footed his spot-kick to De Gea’s left.

Jones should have made amends just before the break but headed wastefully wide.

Kicking towards their own fans on the resumption, United raised the tempo and Chelsea‘s defence came under pressure with Marcus Rashford forcing a first save by Thibaut Courtois.

Suddenly Chelsea were pinned back and Alexis Sanchez slid the ball into their net after Courtois had clawed out a Jones header, but the Chilean was adjudged to have been offside.

Chelsea were reduced to the odd breakaway and from one N’Golo Kante burst into the area before teeing up Marcos Alonso who delayed his shot and was denied by De Gea.

England World Cup duo Rashford and Jesse Lingard were hauled off by Mourinho in the 73rd minute with strikers Romelu Lukaku, who had not played since getting injured last month, and Anthony Martial sent on to try and rescue United’s day.

United pressed and former Chelsea player Nemanja Matic’s shot nearly deceived Courtois while the largely anonymous Paul Pogba glanced a header agonisingly wide of the post.

The post Hazard the difference as Chelsea edge Man United in Cup final appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Written by Sandeep This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/eden-hazard-the-difference-as-chelsea-edge-manchester-united-in-fa-cup-final/ under the title “Hazard the difference as Chelsea edge Man United in Cup final”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.

Kolkata through to IPL playoffs, Bangalore knocked out

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IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chris Lynn

HYDERABAD: Kolkata Knight Riders qualified for the Indian Premier League playoffs after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets and Rajasthan Royals ruined Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bid in a 30-run victory on Saturday.

Kolkata came back strongly through seamer Prasidh Krishna’s 4-30 — including three wickets in the last over — to contain Hyderabad to a competitive 172-9. Then Chris Lynn hit a composed 55 off 43 balls and Robin Uthappa scored 45 as Kolkata cruised to 173-5 with two balls to spare.

Kolkata finished the round robin third behind top qualifiers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings.

Rajasthan kept alive its playoff hopes.

Bangalore needed a win but fell to an eighth defeat in 14 games.

The defending champion Mumbai Indians will be favored on Sunday to overtake Rajasthan for the fourth and last playoff spot when they face last-placed Delhi Daredevils. Already-qualified Chennai faces trying-to-qualify Kings XI Punjab on Sunday also.

Shikhar Dhawan (50) and Shreevats Goswami (35) gave Hyderabad a brisk start of 79 off 52 balls and captain Kane Williamson missed out on his ninth half-century in the tournament in a cameo of 36 off 17 balls.

Hyderabad was well placed for a big total at 127-1 in the 13th over before Williamson was caught at deep point and the middle order collapsed.

Prasidh trapped Dhawan in the 16th over and despite putting up its highest total at home this season, Hyderabad lost five wickets in the last two overs.

Lynn and Sunil Narine gave Kolkata a flying start of 52 runs off 22 deliveries before Narine (29) was dismissed after hitting four boundaries and two sixes.

Lynn then featured in another half-century stand with Uthappa before the Australian holed out at long off in the 14th over.

Uthappa missed his fifty when he top-edged Carlos Brathwaite, but captain Dinesh Karthik eased Kolkata to victory.

At Japiur, legspinner Shreyas Gopal mopped up Bangalore’s top order with 4-16 as Virat Kohli’s side was bowled out for 134 in 19.2 overs, losing its last nine wickets for only 59 runs.

Rahul Tripathi scored a 58-ball 80 not out while opening for Rajasthan, filling the shoes of Jos Buttler, who returned to England for the first test against Pakistan.

He had help from captain Ajinkya Rahane (33) and Heinrich Klaasen (32), playing his third match of the season, who lifted Rajasthan’s total to 164-5.

It proved more than enough.

Offspinner Krishnappa Gowtham (1-6) bowled intelligently with the new ball and clean-bowled Kohli in his second over. AB de Villiers (53 from 35) and Parthiv Patel (33) put the chase back on track.

But Shreyas hurt Bangalore badly when he broke the half-century stand by having Patel stumped and then caught Moeen Ali off his own bowling in the ninth over.

And when de Villiers was also stumped by Klaasen off Shreyas in the 13th over, Bangalore slipped to 98-6.

Earlier, Tripathi hit five fours and three sixes and featured in a 99-run second-wicket stand with Rahane off 69 balls after Rajasthan’s plan of promoting Jofra Archer as opener failed.

Umesh Yadav (3-25) dismissed Rahane and Sanju Samson off successive deliveries in his return spell but Rajasthan still managed to score 63 runs off the last seven overs. And that proved enough for its spinners to defend.

The post Kolkata through to IPL playoffs, Bangalore knocked out appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Written by Sandeep This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/kolkata-knight-riders-through-to-indian-premier-league-playoffs-royal-challengers-bangalore-knocked-out/ under the title “Kolkata through to IPL playoffs, Bangalore knocked out”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.

Rich Hill injury update: Dodgers starter expected to go on DL with blister

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Hill left Saturday’s game against the Nationals after only two pitches because of a blister that had caused him trouble in his last start.

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Cavs look right at home with 3-pointer in series-shifting Game 3 blowout of Celtics

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The Cavaliers enjoy the comforts of the Q as they secure a Game 3 blowout victory over the Celtics. Will that good feeling continue in Game 4?

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Stevenson vs. Jack results: Adonis Stevenson, Badou Jack fight to majority draw

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Badou Jack believes he beat WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson, but only one judge agreed with him. The other two had it even. SN has highlights of the bout.

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MLB wrap: Indians ace Corey Kluber becomes first in AL to 7 wins

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Kluber, who won his second Cy Young Award last season, is quietly putting up almost identical numbers this season.

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NHL playoffs 2018: Lightning strike early in Game 5, take 3-2 series lead over Capitals

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Ryan Callahan had a goal and an assist in the Lightning’s Game 5 win over the Capitals.

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NBA playoffs 2018 wrap: Cavaliers rout Celtics to cut series deficit to 2-1

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The Cavaliers got up early and this time held on to their lead.

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NBA Playoffs 2018: Cavaliers rain three’s on Celtics’ playoff parade

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A huge night from Cavaliers role players helped the team dominate a must-win Game 3 against the Celtics to bring the series to 2-1.

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NBA Playoffs 2018: Cavaliers rain three’s on Celtics’ playoff parade
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NHL playoffs 2018: Alex Ovechkin tried to single-handedly tie Game 5 in final minutes

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Alex Ovechkin nearly dragged the Capitals back into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, but ultimately could not overcome the Lightning.

Written by This news first appeared on http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/news/nhl-playoffs-2018-alex-ovechkin-video-time-on-ice-capitals-game-5-lightning-highlights/15zf2q4tvqjpw1cmlw00tts5j0 under the title “NHL playoffs 2018: Alex Ovechkin tried to single-handedly tie Game 5 in final minutes”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.